The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Tuesday April 10 2007

In saying that the island of Garip remained under "Greek" control until the collapse of the Byzantine empire in 1453 we meant the Greek-speaking citizens of the eastern Roman empire. The modern Greek state was founded after the 1821 war of independence.

The Greek islanders of Lesbos are planning to buy a tiny Turkish island several miles the other side of the maritime border in what would be an unprecedented exchange of real estate between the arch-rival nations.

Lesbos's 100,000-strong population has signalled it wants to raise the $22m (£11m) price tag on the island of Garip, whose pine-clad interior is visible across the Aegean from the Greek island.

Where diplomacy and military might have failed, commerce could prevail if the self-proclaimed Lesbians manage to pull off the "conquest" peacefully. "Any Greek would want to buy Turkish territory," the island's prefect, Pavlos Voyiatzis told the mass-selling weekly Proto Thema. "Especially territory of historic importance."

Located about 90 miles from the ancient city of Troy in Izmir's Bay of Bademli, Garip is best known as the site of a famous battle between the Spartans and Athenians in 406BC. It remained under Greek control until the collapse of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 before passing to the Ottomans, and eventually modern-day Turkey, after the Greeks' disastrous Asia Minor campaign in 1922. But in a nation obsessed with the "shrinkage' of its borders, neither time nor military defeat has diminished the desire to win back lands lost to the Turks - not least those that vanished with the exchange of populations after the Anatolian debacle. In Garip, 84 years after the Treaty of Lausanne which settled the frontiers between the countries, the Greeks, it seems, have found a way to regain lost face. And, nowhere more than in ouzo-producing Lesbos where relations between Greeks and Turks were traditionally good until 1923.

"The asking price might be very high, and is certainly too much for the prefecture to raise, but why not?" said Mr Voyiatzis, a conservative who has ensured that relations with Turkey's resort towns have improved considerably in recent years.

The Turkish isle, which is 13 nautical miles form Mytilene, the Lesbian capital, was put on the market six months ago by Ali and Alaatin Dartar, the two Turkish brothers who have owned it for 20 years.

"We don't have any bad feelings towards the Greeks," said Ali Dartar, from Istanbul. "I have many Greek friends and I can say we wouldn't be prejudicial if they expressed interest. Of course we'd like to know what their purpose was. We don't want a cement empire there, but if it is reasonable then, yes, we would certainly consider a deal."

In their online sales pitch, the businessmen say the island not only provides "excellent snorkelling and diving," but has thermal waters that make it a "unique destination for many to relax and unwind".

Mindful of the countries' ongoing territorial disputes, the Greek government has chosen to view the sale as a matter between private individuals.

Turkey would in any case retain sovereignty over the isle, regardless of ownership of its real estate.